


All Soft Things

by Kai_Heartnet



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: All of this was written way too late at night, All the soft things for the birthday boy, Detailed account of a knitter, Drabbles, For the VLDExchange on Tumblr, Gen, Happy Birthday Shiro!, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, Lance and Allura are kindergarten teachers, M/M, Non-Chronological Order, Shiro is hopelessly in love, Sleep-deprived author, Transition?, We slam on the brakes like men, because i'm incapable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 10:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13832124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kai_Heartnet/pseuds/Kai_Heartnet
Summary: Just some snapshots of a softer time.





	All Soft Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starboyshiro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starboyshiro/gifts).



> Some literal soft fluff for the Shiro Birthday Exchange on Tumblr! It's been a while since I've written, so I hope it's okay!

"One, two, three,  _knit_ , two, three, four, five-"

Shiro watched as Lance's hands maneuvered the yarn to twist and pull into...he wasn't sure what yet. Sometimes he would knit swatches just to test out a new type of yarn he'd found, or to experiment with a new pattern. It was always hard to tell with Lance. A test could be a small square or an entire blanket- that no one was allowed to sleep with because  _that's not a blanket, it's an abomination_.

" _Purl_ , two, three,  _knit_ -... You're going to make me lose count," Lance grimaced, but there was no real anger behind it. Whatever he was making, it wouldn't be the first project to have its pattern botched.

"I'm not doing anything," Shiro smirked.

Lance jabbed the blunted end of one of the knitting needles at him. They were a pale blue set that he'd found at the bottom of the bargain bin in one of the thrift stores that seemed to be everywhere now- or at least that was the story. Shiro thought thrift stores  _were_ the bargain bins of retail, but Lance assured him it was real and that the aggravated needles were fifty cents. They had easily become Lance's favorites, and soon their small apartment had begun to fill with knitted goods.

"You have that amazed look in your eye. It's distracting," Lance grinned, and against such a powerful attack, Shiro had no choice but to return it.

"That's because you  _are_ amazing."

Lance waved the needle at him again, but it was hard to be seen as intimidating when he was turning such a bright side of red.

They had been dating for nearly two years, and it still made Shiro lighthearted to see him blush from his compliments. Especially when the other Lance, the one that was all smooth one-liners and cheeky grins, so easily became the very same one before him now.

"Son of a- what was I on?" he grimaced as he dropped the needle to his lap. He began counting over his stitches, but Shiro interrupted him.

"You were about to purl."

"Really?" Lance asked, his brows pulling together. "Are you sure?"

_No._

"Yes."

Lance nodded to himself and began purling.

"Can I say how much I love you?" Shiro grinned and watched as Lance fumbled and blushed again.

"Wh-what stitch was I doing?"

"Definitely purling."

"...Okay."

Shiro watched as Lance got back into his rhythm. He'd kill him once he realized what he'd done, but until then, Shiro enjoyed watching it all unfold.

 

'~'

 

They met in a hobby shop in the dead of winter.

Well, that was inaccurate.

They  _officially_ met in a hobby shop in the dead of winter.

Lance was converting from crocheting. It was something he'd picked up to keep his hands busy, and it eventually spiraled into a full blown hobby. When he got bored with that, he decided to try his hand at knitting. The YouTube videos made it look easy enough, and he was going to need something to get him through nap time when the children came back from their Winter Break. He didn't think he could sneak balls of yarn past several toddlers for long, but he was curious to see how long it took them to take notice.

Lance wasn't lacking yarn by any means, but he'd decided that with a new hobby came new materials. He scanned the shelves for something that called to him but hopefully wouldn't draw too many young eyes when he saw him.

He'd seen Shiro a few times at the school. He was Keith's older brother, and Lance had heard through gossip that he was also Keith's guardian. The grapevine didn't stretch far enough for him to find out what happened to their parents; and since Keith wasn't in his class, he couldn't ask about it. Besides, he didn't have a reason to know. It didn't matter to him if Keith got into fights with the other kids or that he threw temper tantrums. That hyper hand grenade was Allura's problem.

Except that he really wasn't.

Lance had a soft spot for troubled kids- it's why he became a teacher in the first place- and everything about the chip on the five-year-old's shoulder screamed "Trouble" with a neon sign.

Shiro stood in sharp contrast to his little brother. He was calm and easy-going, and there was an air of peace that seemed to flow off him in waves. If Keith screamed  _Trouble_ , then Shiro calmly gestured  _Good Vibes._ It didn't hurt that he was built like a Greek statue, either.

Lance saw Shiro lifting Keith to see what was on the higher shelves. He'd ask something and Keith would shake his head, and then they'd move on to another shelf. Eventually, curiosity won out and he approached them.

"Do you need help?"

Shiro appeared ready to politely turn him down, but Keith beamed at him.

"Shiro! Mr. Lance! I bet he could find us one!"

"Mr. Lance...?" Shiro questioned before realization hit and he snapped his fingers. "You're from the school!"

Lance smiled.

"I teach the class across from Allura's," he reminded him. "What were you looking for?"

"A 551, 232-piece puzzle," Keith stated simply.

Lance blinked at them.

"Do they...make those?"

"There's a record," Shiro shrugged.

"A  _world_ record," Keith corrected.

Lance laughed.

"Did you want to recreate it?"

"Shiro says I need to find a better..." Keith looked to Shiro who gave him a pointed look.

"'Outlet.'"

"...Outlet...for my emotions. He says I can't punch people if my hands are busy doing other stuff."

"Have you ever tried putting together a jigsaw puzzle?" Lance asked in an attempt to contain his laughter.

Keith shook his head.

"Then how about you start a bit smaller, hm?"

"I've tried that," Shiro sighed.

At the same time, Keith began glaring daggers at him.

"It has to be 551, 232 pieces!"

Shiro gave a sigh that seemed to be pulled from his bones, and for the first time Lance didn't see the infallible ocean of peace when he looked at him. Instead, he seemed every bit an exhausted big brother. He knew immediately that he was in too deep.

 

'~'

 

Lance traced the spiderweb of scars on the arm that was draped over his waist. He and Shiro had fallen asleep watching _The Good Place_ on Netflix- Lance because he was curious after seeing gifs of it pop up everywhere he looked, and Shiro because he didn’t dare arm Lance with references that he himself didn’t understand again- and Lance had been woken by the sudden silence that came with Netflix’s passive aggressive reminder that he hadn’t touched the controller in a few episodes.

He enjoyed the steady rise and fall of Shiro’s chest behind him, and for a moment he allowed the silence to be all that filled the room. It was warm and comforting, a sign that everything was _right_ \- at least for now. A quick peek at his phone told him that it was already four in the morning. Soon, he or Shiro would have to start moving Keith through his morning routine. Then Lance would use him as a distraction while he finished getting everything set for the birthday celebration. Until then, however; Lance just wanted to enjoy this soft peace.

He raised Shiro's hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

"Happy birthday," he whispered.


End file.
